We all began by hearing the truth, and then speaking the truth and believing the truth. That truth came to us on the lips of another.
What good is Evangelism if we are not putting people in pews? Why bother to tell people the Good News if we aren’t baptizing them? Why bother? These thoughts may circulate through Church Councils, Evangelism Committees and surely are voiced during budget meetings. “We just don’t see the benefit, if we can’t see the results!” Worst case scenario someone walks away having had a polite discussion with someone who is friendly and willing to listen. Ok... But where’s the payoff? What are the results? The bottom line. What numbers are you bringing in? How much more is in the offering plate?
When an atheist comes up to me and he hears that God is not waiting for him to make the first move... or the second move... or any move at all, but rather that Jesus has done it all for him already and God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD to himself, not counting men’s sins against them. This is the outrageous Word of God. You can't unhear the Gospel. Once you have heard it you know the message is different from any other message you have ever heard before. Jesus is unique and so is His message. So once you have heard it, it stays with you and in the face of mortal struggles promises peace in our shattered lives.
Atheists are confounded. In one situation at the end of our conversation, the student, a self-proclaimed atheist, slowly walked away, and every few feet he turned back to look at me and said, “ I don’t believe what you said, but I have never heard it before.” He was stunned. So there it is, he heard something new. God is doing something new. He is the one who changes us. And He does it through His Word. And there is no promise that we will see the results. Even an atheist set in his ways will be shaken by the love of Jesus that has no end.
A Muslim man saw my box that says, “Religion is for the weak” and after reading it he became furious. Shaking, his face hot with anger, he asked me why I had this sign. So I told him that I was weak, that I was going to die and that I am guilty. At this point he began to calm down. He saw that he could relate to me and he then understood the sign. I asked him if he feared judgment, and he told me that he did. Then I told him that he did not have to worry, because Jesus had already taken his punishment.
I said I was afraid of death. He said he was too.
I said I was guilty for things I have done. He said he was too
I said I was afraid of judgment. He said he was too.
I said not to worry about judgment because Jesus has paid for his sins.
He said, “Why should I believe that?”
I said, “Because Jesus rose from the dead.”
He said, “Why should I believe that?”
I said, “Jesus rose from the dead in ordinary history, that you can check out for yourself.”
He told me that this was intriguing and that he did not know that Jesus was free or that the resurrection was testable. He thanked me for giving him important ideas to think about.
What good is Evangelism if we are not putting people in pews? Why bother to tell people the Good News if we aren’t baptizing them? Why bother? These thoughts may circulate through Church Councils, Evangelism Committees and surely are voiced during budget meetings. “We just don’t see the benefit, if we can’t see the results!” Worst case scenario someone walks away having had a polite discussion with someone who is friendly and willing to listen. Ok... But where’s the payoff? What are the results? The bottom line. What numbers are you bringing in? How much more is in the offering plate?
When an atheist comes up to me and he hears that God is not waiting for him to make the first move... or the second move... or any move at all, but rather that Jesus has done it all for him already and God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD to himself, not counting men’s sins against them. This is the outrageous Word of God. You can't unhear the Gospel. Once you have heard it you know the message is different from any other message you have ever heard before. Jesus is unique and so is His message. So once you have heard it, it stays with you and in the face of mortal struggles promises peace in our shattered lives.
Atheists are confounded. In one situation at the end of our conversation, the student, a self-proclaimed atheist, slowly walked away, and every few feet he turned back to look at me and said, “ I don’t believe what you said, but I have never heard it before.” He was stunned. So there it is, he heard something new. God is doing something new. He is the one who changes us. And He does it through His Word. And there is no promise that we will see the results. Even an atheist set in his ways will be shaken by the love of Jesus that has no end.
A Muslim man saw my box that says, “Religion is for the weak” and after reading it he became furious. Shaking, his face hot with anger, he asked me why I had this sign. So I told him that I was weak, that I was going to die and that I am guilty. At this point he began to calm down. He saw that he could relate to me and he then understood the sign. I asked him if he feared judgment, and he told me that he did. Then I told him that he did not have to worry, because Jesus had already taken his punishment.
I said I was afraid of death. He said he was too.
I said I was guilty for things I have done. He said he was too
I said I was afraid of judgment. He said he was too.
I said not to worry about judgment because Jesus has paid for his sins.
He said, “Why should I believe that?”
I said, “Because Jesus rose from the dead.”
He said, “Why should I believe that?”
I said, “Jesus rose from the dead in ordinary history, that you can check out for yourself.”
He told me that this was intriguing and that he did not know that Jesus was free or that the resurrection was testable. He thanked me for giving him important ideas to think about.
